Ian MacLean

It’s unlikely that 1st Viscount Gordon Hewart has ever figured prominently in the thoughts of Clyde fans. But he should do this week.

It was he who, as a sitting judge in the 1930s, famously ruled “justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done”.

Patently that’s not something Scottish football authorities seem to have adopted when it comes to Clyde and their now infamous points deduction.

The Bully Wee are raging at the severity of the SPFL punishment, which the Scottish FA’s Judicial Panel has now failed to overturn. And rightly so.

I get ‘them’s the rules’ and that Clyde are guilty of a technical irregularity. But it seems that none of the many mitigating factors have been taken into account.

In effect Clyde have been punished for fielding a bona fide Clyde player in a Clyde match.

Declan Fitzpatrick - and the unfortunate effect of all this on an innocent young footballer should not be ignored - was recalled from a loan spell with Clydebank Juniors due to an injury crisis. Having been playing in central defence, he was pitched in against Albion Rovers and asked to perform in an unfamiliar striker’s role.

It’s hardly the definitive case of bringing in a ringer.

While admitting that the regulations mean he should not have played, Clyde have quite rightly raised a host of other issues surrounding the SPFL judgement.

Why, if there are checks in place to ensure team line-ups are compliant with the rules, were Clyde not told of the problem BEFORE their next match with Queen’s Park when they fielded Fitzpatrick again, unaware of the coming storm.

How was the annulment and awarding of the match 3-0 to their opponents arrived at?

When Hearts breached the rules in this season’s Betfred Cup they were docked two points from a game they won. The point they kept proved enough to make sure they went through to the knockout stages. Without it they would have been out at the group stage.

And when Peterhead breached the rules in 2014 they were ordered to replay their game with Ayr United. There was no points deduction “in the interests of sporting integrity and fairness to both sides”.